what are rubrics and why are they important

8/10/2019 What Are Rubrics and Why Are They Important

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The word rubriccomes from the Latin word for red. The online Merriam-Webster dictionary lists thefirst meaning of rubricas "an authoritative rule" and the fourth meaning as "a guide listing specificcriteria for grading or scoring academic papers, projects, or tests." How did the name for a colorcome to mean a rule or guide? At least as far back as the Middle Ages, the rules for the conduct ofliturgical servicesas opposed to the actual spoken words of the liturgywere often printed in red,

so the rules were "the red things" on the page.In this book, I will show that rubrics for classroom use are both moreandlessthan the dictionarydefinition suggests. They are more because rubrics are good for much more than just grading orscoring. They are less because not just any set of rules or guides for student work are rubrics. Thisfirst chapter lays out some basic concepts about rubrics. Chapter 2 illustrates commonmisconceptions about rubrics, and Chapter 3 describes how to write or select effective rubrics.

Self-reflection

What is your current view of rubrics? Write down what you know about them and what experiencesyou have had using them. Save this reflection to compare with a similar reflection after you haveread this book.

What is a rubric?

A rubric is a coherent set of criteria for students' work that includes descriptions of levels of performance quality on thecriteria. Sounds simple enough, right? Unfortunately, this definition of rubricis rarely demonstrated inpractice. The Internet, for example, offers many rubrics that do not, in fact, describe performance. Ithink I know why that might be and will explain that in Chapter 2, but for now let's start with thepositive. It should be clear from the definition that rubrics have two major aspects: coherent sets ofcriteriaand descriptions of levels of performancefor these criteria.The genius of rubrics is that they are descriptive and not evaluative. Of course, rubrics can be used

to evaluate, but the operating principle is you match the performance to the description rather than"judge" it. Thus rubrics are as good or bad as the criteria selected and the descriptions of the levelsof performance under each. Effective rubrics have appropriate criteria and well-written descriptionsof performance.

What is the purpose of rubrics?

Like any other evaluation tool, rubrics are useful for certain purposes and not for others. The mainpurpose of rubrics is to assess performances. For some performances, you observe the student in theprocess of doing something, like using an electric drill or discussing an issue. For otherperformances, you observe the product that is the result of the student's work, like a finishedbookshelf or a written report. Figure 1.1 lists some common kinds of school performances that can

be assessed with rubrics. This list by no means covers every possible school performance. It is justmeant to help you think of the types of performances you might assess with rubrics.

Figure 1.1. Types of Performances That Can Be Assessed with Rubrics

Type of Performance Examples


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ProcessesPhysical skillsUse of equipmentOral communicationWork habits

Playing a musical instrumentDoing a forward rollPreparing a slide for the microscopeMaking a speech to the classReading aloud

Conversing in a foreign languageWorking independently

ProductsConstructed objectsWritten essays, themes, reports, term papersOther academic products that demonstrateunderstanding of concepts

Wooden bookshelfSet of weldsHandmade apronWatercolor paintingLaboratory reportTerm paper on theatrical conventions inShakespeare's dayWritten analysis of the effects of the MarshallPlan

Model or diagram of a structure (atom, flower,planetary system, etc.)Concept map

This list is not meant to suggest what your students shouldperform. State standards, curriculumgoals, and instructional goals and objectives are the sources for what types of performances yourstudents should be able to do. When the intended learning outcomes are best indicated byperformancesthings students would do, make, say, or writethen rubrics are the best way toassess them. Notice that the performances themselves are not learning outcomes. Theyare indicatorsof learning outcomes. Except in unusual cases, any one performance is just a sample ofall the possible performances that would indicate an intended learning outcome. Chapters 2 and 3

cover this point in greater detail. For now, know that the purpose of the list in Figure 1.1 is todescribe some of these performances, so you can recognize them as performances and as suitablefor using rubrics, when they are appropriate indicators of your goals for student learning.About the only kinds of schoolwork that do not function well with rubrics are questions with rightor wrong answers. Test items or oral questions in class that have one clear correct answer are bestassessed as right or wrong. However, even test items that have degrees of quality of performance,where you want to observe how appropriately, how completely, or how well a question wasanswered, can be assessed with rubrics.Rubrics give structure to observations. Matching your observations of a student's work to thedescriptions in the rubric averts the rush to judgment that can occur in classroom evaluationsituations. Instead ofjudgingthe performance, the rubric describesthe performance. The resultingjudgment of quality based on a rubric therefore also contains within it a description of performancethat can be used for feedback and teaching. This is different from a judgment of quality from a scoreor a grade arrived at without a rubric. Judgments without descriptions stop the action in a classroom.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of different types of rubrics?

Rubrics are usually categorized by two different aspects of their composition. One is whether therubric treats the criteria one at a time or together. The other is whether the rubric is general and


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could be used with a family of similar tasks or is task-specific and only applicable to one assessment.Figure 1.2 describes the different types of rubrics and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Figure 1.2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Types of Rubrics

Type ofRubric Definition Advantages Disadvantages

Holistic or Analytic: One or Several Judgments?

Analytic Each criterion (dimension,trait) is evaluated separately.

Gives diagnosticinformation to teacher.Gives formative feedback tostudents.Easier to link to instructionthan holistic rubrics.Good for formative

assessment; adaptable forsummative assessment; ifyou need an overall score forgrading, you can combinethe scores.

Takes more time toscore than holisticrubrics.Takes more time toachieve inter-raterreliability than withholistic rubrics.

Holistic All criteria (dimensions,traits) are evaluatedsimultaneously.

Scoring is faster than withanalytic rubrics.Requires less time to achieveinter-rater reliability.Good for summativeassessment.

Single overall scoredoes not communicateinformation about whatto do to improve.Not good for formativeassessment.

Description of Performance: General or Task-Specific?

General Description of work givescharacteristics that apply toa whole family of tasks (e.g.,writing, problem solving).

Can share with students,explicitly linking assessmentand instruction.Reuse same rubrics withseveral tasks or assignments.Supports learning by helpingstudents see "good work" asbigger than one task.Supports student self-

evaluation.Students can help constructgeneral rubrics.

Lower reliability at firstthan with task-specificrubrics.Requires practice toapply well.

Task-Specific

Description of work refersto the specific content of aparticular task (e.g., gives ananswer, specifies aconclusion).

Teachers sometimes sayusing these makes scoring"easier."Requires less time to achieveinter-rater reliability.

Cannot share withstudents (would giveaway answers).Need to write newrubrics for each task.


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For open-ended tasks,good answers not listedin rubrics may beevaluated poorly.

Source:FromAssessment and Grading in Classrooms(p. 201), by Susan M. Brookhart and Anthony J.

Nitko, 2008, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Copyright 2008 by Pearson Education.Reprinted with permission.

Analytic and holistic rubrics

Analytic rubricsdescribe work on each criterion separately. Holistic rubricsdescribe the work byapplying all the criteria at the same time and enabling an overall judgment about the quality of thework. The top panel of Figure 1.2 defines analytic and holistic rubrics and lists advantages anddisadvantages for each.For most classroom purposes, analytic rubrics are best. Focusing on the criteria one at a time isbetter for instruction and better for formative assessment because students can see what aspects of

their work need what kind of attention. Focusing on the criteria one at a time is good for anysummative assessment (grading) that will also be used to make decisions about the futureforexample, decisions about how to follow up on a unit or decisions about how to teach somethingnext year.One classroom purpose for which holistic rubrics are better than analytic rubrics is the situation inwhich students will not see the results of a final summative assessment and you will not really usethe information for anything except a grade. Some high school final examinations fall into thiscategory. Grading with rubrics is faster when there is only one decision to make, rather than aseparate decision for each criterion.On balance, for most classroom purposes I recommend analytic rubrics. Therefore, most of theexamples in this book will be analytic rubrics. Before we leave holistic rubrics, however, I want to

reemphasize the important point that all the criteriaare used in holistic rubrics. You consider themtogether, but you don't boil down the evaluation to the old "excellent-good-fair-poor" kind ofthinking along one general "judgment" dimension. True holistic rubrics are still rubrics; that is, theyare based on criteria for good work and on observation of how the work meets those criteria.

General and task-specific rubrics

General rubricsuse criteria and descriptions of performance thatgeneralizeacross (hence thenamegeneral rubrics), or can be used with, different tasks. The tasks all have to be instances of thesame learning outcomefor example, writing or mathematics problem solving. The criteria point toaspects of the learning outcome and not to features of any one specific task (for example, criteria listcharacteristics of good problem solving and not features of the solution to a specific problem). Thedescriptions of performance are general, so students learn general qualities and not isolated, task-specific features (for example, the description might say all relevant information was used to solvethe problem, not that the numbers of knives, forks, spoons, and guests were used to solve theproblem). Task-specific rubricsare pretty well described by their name: They are rubrics that arespecific to the performance task with which they are used. Task-specific rubrics contain the answersto a problem, or explain the reasoning students are supposed to use, or list facts and conceptsstudents are supposed to mention. The bottom panel of Figure 1.2 defines general and task-specificrubrics and lists advantages and disadvantages for each.


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Why use general rubrics?General rubrics have several advantages over task-specific rubrics.General rubrics

Can be shared with students at the beginning of an assignment, to help them plan and monitortheir own work.

Can be used with many different tasks, focusing the students on the knowledge and skills they are

developing over time. Describe student performance in terms that allow for many different paths to success. Focus the teacher on developing students' learning of skills instead of task completion. Do not need to be rewritten for every assignment.

Let's look more closely at the first two advantages.Can be shared with students at the beginning of an assignment. General rubrics do not "give away answers" toquestions. They do not contain any information that the students are supposed to be developingthemselves. Instead, they contain descriptions like "Explanation of reasoning is clear and supportedwith appropriate details." Descriptions like this focus students on what their learning target issupposed to be (for example, explaining reasoning clearly, with appropriate supporting details). Theyclarify for students how to approach the assignment (for example, in solving the problem posed, Ishould make sure to explicitly focus on why I made the choices I did and be able to explain that).

Therefore, over time general rubrics help students build up a concept of what it means to perform askill well (for example, effective problem solving requires clear reasoning that I can explain andsupport).Can be used with many different tasks. Because general rubrics focus students on the knowledge andskills they are learning rather than the particular task they are completing, they offer the best methodI know for preventing the problem of "empty rubrics" that will be described in Chapter 2. Goodgeneral rubrics will, by definition, not be task directions in disguise, or counts of surface features, orevaluative rating scales.Because general rubrics focus students on the knowledge and skills they are supposed to beacquiring, they can and should be used with any task that belongs to the whole domain of learningfor those learning outcomes. Of course, you never have an opportunity to give students all of the

potential tasks in a domain

you can't ask them to write every possible essay about characterization,solve every possible problem involving slope, design experiments involving every possible chemicalsolvent, or describe every political takeover that was the result of a power vacuum.These sets of tasks all indicate important knowledge and skills, however, and they develop over timeand with practice. Essay writing, problem solving, experimental design, and the analysis of politicalsystems are each important skills in their respective disciplines. If the rubrics are the same each timea student does the same kind of work, the student will learn general qualities of good essay writing,problem solving, and so on. If the rubrics are different each time the student does the same kind ofwork, the student will not have an opportunity to see past the specific essay or problem. The generalapproach encourages students to think about building up general knowledge and skills rather thanthinking about school learning in terms of getting individual assignments done.

Why use task-specific rubrics?Task-specific rubrics function as "scoring directions" for theperson who is grading the work. Because they detail the elements to look for in a student's answer toa particular task, scoring students' responses with task-specific rubrics is lower-inference work thanscoring students' responses with general rubrics. For this reason, it is faster to train raters to reachacceptable levels of scoring reliability using task-specific rubrics for large-scale assessment. Similarly,it is easier for teachers to apply task-specific rubrics consistently with a minimum of practice.General rubrics take longer to learn to apply well.However, the reliability advantage is temporary (one can learn to apply general rubrics well), and itcomes with a big downside. Obviously, task-specific rubrics are useful only for scoring. If students


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can't see the rubrics ahead of time, you can't share them with students, and therefore task-specificrubrics are not useful for formative assessment. That in itself is one good reason not to use themexcept for special purposes. Task-specific rubrics do not take advantage of the most powerfulaspects of rubricstheir usefulness in helping students to conceptualize their learning targets and tomonitor their own progress.

Why are rubrics important?

Rubrics are important because they clarify for students the qualities their work should have. Thispoint is often expressed in terms of students understanding the learning target and criteria forsuccess. For this reason, rubrics help teachers teach, they help coordinate instruction andassessment, and they help students learn.

Rubrics help teachers teach

To write or select rubrics, teachers need to focus on the criteria by which learning will be assessed.This focus on what you intend students to learnrather than what you intend to teachactually helpsimprove instruction. The common approach of "teaching things," as in "I taught the American

Revolution" or "I taught factoring quadratic equations," is clear on content but not so clear onoutcomes. Without clarity on outcomes, it's hard to know how much of various aspects of thecontent to teach. Rubrics help with clarity of both content and outcomes.Really good rubrics help teachers avoid confusing the task or activity with the learning goal, andtherefore confusing completion of the task with learning. Rubrics help keep teachers focused oncriteria, not tasks. I have already discussed this point in the section about selecting criteria. Focusingrubrics on learningand not on tasksis the most important concept in this book. I will return to it overand over. It seems to be a difficult conceptor probably a more accurate statement is that focusingon tasks is so easy and so seductive that it becomes the path many busy teachers take. Penny-wiseand pound-foolish, such an approach saves time in the short run by sacrificing learning in the longrun.

Rubrics help coordinate instruction and assessment

Most rubrics should be designed for repeated use, over time, on several tasks. Students are given arubric at the beginning of a unit of instruction or an episode of work. They tackle the work, receivefeedback, practice, revise or do another task, continue to practice, and ultimately receive a gradeallusing the same rubric as their description of the criteria and the quality levels that will demonstratelearning. This path to learning is much more cohesive than a string of assignments with related butdifferent criteria.

Rubrics help students learn

The criteria and performance-level descriptions in rubrics help students understand what the desiredperformance is and what it looks like. Effective rubrics show students how they will know to what

extent their performance passes muster on each criterion of importance, and if used formatively canalso show students what their next steps should be to enhance the quality of their performance. Thisclaim is backed by research at all grade levels and in different disciplines.Several studies of student-generated criteria demonstrate that students can participate in definingand describing the qualities their work should have. Nancy Harris and Laura Kuehn (Higgins,Harris, & Kuehn, 1994) did research in their own team-taught classroom to see what sorts of criteriaprimary school students could generate for a "good project." They found that their students, ingrades 1 and 2, were able to define criteria for group projects. At the beginning of the year, most of


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the criteria were about process (for example, the group members getting along with each other). InDecember, students were able to view examples of projects, and with continued brainstorming anddiscussion they began to see the importance of substantive criteria (for example, the informationcontained in the project). By the end of the year, about half the criteria students chose were aboutprocess and half were about product. This study shows us that students need to learn how to focus

on learning

and, more important, that they can begin to do this as early as 1st grade.Andrade, Du, and Wang (2008) investigated the effects of having 3rd and 4th graders read a modelwritten assignment, generate their own list of criteria, and use rubrics to self-assess the quality of thewritten stories and essays they then produced. A comparison group brainstormed criteria and self-assessed their drafts but did not use the rubric. Controlling for previous writing ability, the groupthat used the rubrics for self-assessment wrote better overall, and specifically in the areas of ideas,organization, voice, and word choice. There were no differences between the groups in the areas ofsentences and conventions, presumably areas of much previous drill for all young writers. Andrade,Du, and Mycek (2010) replicated these findings with students in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade, except thatthe rubric group's writing was evaluated as having higher quality on all six criteria.Ross, Hoagaboam-Gray, and Rolheiser (2002) taught 5th and 6th grade students self-evaluation skillsin mathematics, also using a method based on criteria. Their self-evaluation instruction involved

four strategies: involving students in defining criteria, teaching them how to apply the criteria, givingthem feedback on these self-evaluations against criteria, and helping them develop action plansbased on the self-evaluations. Controlling for previous problem-solving ability, students who self-assessed using criteria outscored a comparison group at solving mathematics problems.Ross and Starling (2008) used the same four-component self-assessment training, based on criteria,with secondary students in a 9th grade geography class. Students were learning to solve geographyproblems using global information systems (GIS) software, so the learning goals were about bothaccurate use of the software and applying it to real-world geography problems, including being ableto explain their problem-solving strategies. Controlling for pretest computer self-efficacy (known tobe important in technology learning), the treatment group outscored a comparison group on threedifferent measures: production of a map using the software, a report explaining their problem-

solving strategies, and an exam measuring knowledge of the mapping program. The largestdifference was for the problem-solving explanations.Hafner and Hafner (2003) investigated college biology students' use of rubrics for peer assessmentand teacher assessment of a collaborative oral presentation. There were five criteria: organizationand research, persuasiveness and logic of argument, collaboration, delivery and grammar, andcreativity and originality. Originally the rubric was developed and then modified with discussion andinvolvement of students. For the study, the same rubric was used for a required course assignmentthree years in a row. The instructors were interested in finding out whether the information studentsgained from peer evaluation was accurate, whether it matched teacher input, and whether thisaccuracy was consistent across different years and classes. The short answer was yes. Students wereable to accurately give feedback to their peers, their information matched that of their instructor,

and this was the case for each class.

Self-reflection

What evidence would it take to convince you that using rubrics with learning-based criteria in yourclassroom would enhance learning of content outcomes and improve students' learning skills aswell? How can you get that evidence in your own classroom?


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Summing up

This chapter has defined rubrics in terms of their two main components: criteria and descriptions oflevels of performance. The main point about criteria is that they should be about learning outcomes,not aspects of the task itself. The main point about descriptions of levels of performance is that theyshould be descriptions, not evaluative statements. The "evaluation" aspect of assessment is

accomplished by matching student work with the description, not by making immediate judgments.Finally, the chapter has presented some evidence that using this kind of rubric helps teachers teachand students learn, and it has invited you to pursue your own evidence, in your specific classroomand school context.KEYWORDS

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